1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to an image processing device, an image processing method, and a computer-readable recording medium, which display an image acquired by a capsule endoscope that is introduced into a subject and captures an image inside the subject.
2. Related Art
In recent years, in the field of endoscope, an examination using a capsule endoscope that is introduced into a subject such as a patient and captures an image is known. The capsule endoscope is a device where an imaging function, a wireless communication function, and the like are included in a capsule-shaped casing formed into a size that can be introduced into a digestive tract of the subject. The capsule endoscope sequentially and wirelessly transmits image data generated by capturing an image inside the subject to the outside of the subject. The image data wirelessly transmitted from the capsule endoscope is once accumulated in a receiving device provided outside the subject, is transferred (downloaded) from the receiving device to an image display device such as a workstation, and is variously image-processed in the image display device.
When observing a series of images acquired in this way, normally, a user such as a doctor sets an image including a feature portion such as an organ boundary and a surgical scar as a feature point while generally browsing the images by reproducing the images as a moving image or continuously reproducing still images. Thereafter, the user performs diagnosis such as extracting a desired image based on the set feature point and observing the image in detail or determining a motor function of an organ based on a difference between imaging times corresponding to a moving time of the capsule endoscope from one feature point to another feature point among a plurality of set feature points. Therefore, to perform a correct diagnosis, it is important to set feature points to an appropriate image.
As a technique related to extracting an image from a series of images acquired by a capsule endoscope, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-280792 A discloses a technique to calculate a correlation value of a plurality of pixel areas that are set on each image of a series of images, to calculate a motion vector of the plurality of pixel areas, to detect a continuous image group in which images having a correlation value of a plurality of pixel areas between adjacent images is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, continuously appear, to identify one or more representative images from among the continuous image group, and to display the one or more representative images at a display frame rate different from that of images other than the one or more representative images.